Joel Matip to be fit for West Ham test

Joel Matip is set to be fit for Liverpool’s game with West Ham this weekend.

The defender has returned to training after missing the defeat at Bournemouth with an ankle injury, and is expected to return to Jürgen Klopp’s squad for Sunday’s Anfield clash against the struggling Hammers.

Matip flew to Barcelona with his teammates on Sunday for a two-day team bonding trip, and joined in with a training session at their Spanish camp in Saint-Cugat on Tuesday, under the close eye of fitness coach Andreas Kornmayer.

The news will come as a huge boost to Klopp. In the Cameroonian’s absence Liverpool looked decidedly shaky defensively, shipping four second-half goals to a Bournemouth side that had looked dead and buried at 2-0 and 3-1 down.

Without Matip, Liverpool have conceded nine goals in three Premier League games, as opposed to nine in 11 with him in the team. The 25-year-old has been a revelation since his summer arrival from Schalke, his partnership with Dejan Lovren looking a promising one.

Only Philippe Coutinho and Danny Ings, of the senior squad, missed Liverpool's trip to Barcelona, which will see them take in tonight's Champions League game with Borussia Moenchengladbach at Camp Nou.

Klopp hopes the likes of Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino will shake off niggles this week before Sunday’s game against a West Ham side that have slipped to 17th following a poor start to the campaign.